• The South West Research Company Ltd. were commissioned by Good Energy to undertake an independent research study during summer 2013 into the attitudes of visitors to Cornwall towards wind and solar farms in the county. The survey was designed to explore visitor attitudes towards renewable energy; levels of awareness of wind and solar farms in Cornwall; and the extent to which these developments affected the visitors’ enjoyment of their holidays and/or their willingness to visit again in future.

• A face to face survey was conducted by experienced
interviewers at six different holiday locations in Cornwall between the 1st and 30th August 2013. A total of 1,007 questionnaires were completed.

• 80% of visitors were in favour of renewable energy as a means of generating power and on the whole thought it was a good idea whilst just 6% had a negative attitude towards it.

• 74% of visitors were in favour of wind farms as a means of generating power and on the whole thought they were a good idea. 12% of visitors had a negative attitude towards them.

• 75% of visitors were in favour of solar farms as a means of generating power and on the whole thought they were a good idea. 9% of visitors had a negative attitude towards them.

• 90% of visitors were aware of wind farms in Cornwall.

• Of those aware of wind farms, 71% said their presence had no impact on their visit to Cornwall at all, 19%
indicated that they actually had a positive impact on their visit to the county and 10% said they had a negative impact on their visit.

• When those who were unaware of wind farms in the county were included in the analysis, the negative impact of wind farms on visits was further reduced to 9% of visitors.

35% of visitors were aware of solar farms in Cornwall.

• Of those aware of solar farms, 71% said their presence had no impact on their visit to Cornwall at all, 22%
indicated that they actually had a positive impact on their visit to the county and 7% said they had a negative impact on their visit.

• When those who were unaware of solar farms in the county were included in the analysis, the negative impact of solar farms on visits was further reduced to just 2% of visitors.

• 94% of visitors said the presence of wind and solar farms would make no difference in their decision to visit Cornwall again in the future and a further 4% indicated that their presence would actually make them more likely to visit. 2% of visitors stated that they would be less likely to visit as a result of the presence of wind and solar farms in Cornwall.

• Whilst the majority of visitors did not indicate any factors which would deter them from visiting Cornwall again in the future (69%), the risk of poor weather (17%) and cost compared to other holiday destinations (14%) were the two factors most likely to deter them to visit the county again in the future. Only 2% of all visitors indicated that the presence of wind and solar farms in Cornwall would deter them from visiting again in the future.